Farmers and ranchers have to deal with weather conditions in order to successfully raise cattle and other animals. In commercial feed lots, the two most important weather elements are the wind during winter, and the sun during summer.
In the prior art, lean-tos or fences would typically be provided in order to provide protection from blowing wind. In summer, a roofed structure was the only way to protect animals from the sun on a hot day. However, roofed and walled structures are quite expensive to build merely to provide protection from the wind and sun. In addition, prior art shelters were deficient in view of the fact that wind is desirable during the summer months to help cool the animal, while sun is desirable during the winter months to help warm the animals. Thus, prior art shelters would provide a barrier to the harmful weather element while also providing a barrier to a helpful weather element. Because hundreds of head of cattle may be lost in a single day because of a lack of breeze on a hot day, or exposure to the wind on a cold winter day, commercial feed lots require separate barriers which may be removed after a particular season.